Bishop Worth, ca. 1730s.

11 Latin poems, 13 English poems.

Betty Careless and Dryden-themed poems.

Philip Yorke 2nd Earl of Hardwicke, ca. 1756. Principal figure in Yorke-Grey coterie.

12 items—11 original or local poems, 1 Latin paste-in.

Sonnets.

Thomas Binns, 1789–1799.

"Collection of Poems" numbered Vols. II and III, and "Miscellaneous Manuscripts" numbered Vols. 3 and 4.

117 + 74 + 112 + 116 = 419 items, numerous very long poems.

Quaker writings; political themes (anti-war, anti-slavery, pro-revolutionary); sentimental poetry and poetry about nature.

Anonymous; perhaps Thomas Siw---, ca. 1750–1781.

Two sections: a poetry compilation and a commonplace miscellany (ca. 1813–1835)—this entry pertains only to the first section.

96 items.

Interest in women’s self-assertion, poems by Cambridge men, and Latin and Greek. Sources often identified as manuscripts or magazines.

Anonymous, late 1720s.

22 items.

Satirical (including an excerpt from Gulliver's Travels) and many poems on domestic animals. Includes references to Irish affairs. 

Anonymous, ca. 1775–1794.

45 items.

General tone is sentimental and polite, includes pseudonymous attributions and apparently fictional epistolary exchanges.

Anonymous, 1728.

79 items.

Primarily witty poetry, both high and low; some serious political and moral poems.

Anonymous, ca. 1798.

Miniature book with elaborate illustrations, perhaps for children.

17 items.

Includes a song in Cumberland dialect and material from Poor Robin's Almanac.

Stephen Barrett, 1770-1794.

Gift from Cuthbert Wilson with a presentation poem.

45 items.

Original poems in Latin and English, mostly by Barrett, including school exercises; translations by Barrett of early modern and eighteenth-century English poems into Latin.

Richard Chaloner Cobbe, ca. 1753.

Thick boards seemingly worn by use. 

67 items.

Seems reflective of an Oxford circle of male poets.

Latin poetry, bawdy satire, and poems about women.

Anonymous, ca. 1730.

Additions and annotations possibly by a second hand in 1730s.

39 items.

Centred on Swift and Pope, with a few items about them by others, and a few additional satires.

Anonymous, 1751.

58 poems.

Collection of poems by various authors, mainly religious.

Anonymous member of the Porter family, late eighteenth-century.

4 volumes, 2039 poems. 

Contemporary poetry, many items commonly included in manuscript verse miscellanies. 

Anonymous, maybe Diana Burroughs, ca. 1774–1787.

85 poems.

A mix of original and well-known poetry with a high proportion of original occasional verse.

Norfolk circle of EM and Diana Burroughs.

Thomas Crofton Croker, ca. 1814–1818.

40 poems.

Sentimental and light poems, almost all addressed to female acquaintances. 

George Montagu, ca. 1769–1790. 

77 poems.

Verses attributed to George and Frederick Montagu, and copies of poems by Lady Mary Wortley Montagu, and others.

* As of yet, this manuscript has not been examined due to 2021-2022 pandemic access restrictions. This description is a temporary placeholder based on catalogue entries and Union First Line Index records.

Thomas Phillibrown, 1740–1757.

Divided into sections according to odd and even numbered pages.

152 poems.

Very London oriented (Public affairs, local interest, celebrities). 

Reflects a mid-century coterie centering around John Hawkins and Moses Browne.

Anonymous Oxonian, 1790s.

Some items possibly marked for copying.

214 poems.

Lots of Latin poetry, and English poetry with Greek titles.

Mr. Davis, ca. 1750–1765.

146 items.

Pastorals, love poems, and poems on aging with one about inability to perform sexually.

Kidlington circle with key to coterie pseudonyms on final page.

Gabriel Lepipre, ca. 1750. 

246 poems. 

Good example of miscellany as autobiography; also includes lots of epitaphs.

Mary Tadwell, 1744–1761. Taken over by John Watson Tadwell in a clear effort to continue/complete Mary Tadwell's work.

Three volumes composed roughly chronologically.

167 poems.

Contents heavy on riddles, acrostics, songs; frequent country-city theme, but with no sense of a specific country locality.

At least partially compiled by Frances, Viscountess Montague, begun ca. 1745.

93 poems.

Mildly moral and cynical about public affairs, social behaviours.

Samuel Greatheed, 1772–1773.

24 poems.

A good example of a miscellany by one author/compiler; includes some imitations and translations.

Charles Plumptre ca. 1730.

79 poems.

Includes school exercises; some poems possibly from friendship circle that includes John Hoadly and Isaac Hawkins Brown; could be connected with Newcombe’s school in Hackney; satires on women; poems by Lady Mary Wortley Montagu.

Azarias Williams, 1785–1790. 

The compiler blurs his own voice with that of his sources by signing his name to much of what he copies.

78 poems.

Choices seem significant autobiographically—themes of emigration, social behaviour, British patriotism, New York, death, children, sentimental courtship, male unfaithfulness/libertinism, religious/devotional expressions, and topographical poetry.

John Brewster, ca. 1770–ca. 1810.

130 poems.

Frequent epitaphs, poems on death. 

Henry Jodrell, ca. 1780.

Ambigraph book with Shakespeare plays at one end, poetry at the other. Given the limited number of entries, the poetry end was perhaps abandoned.

12 poems.

Anonymous, 1724–1728.

109 poems.

Almost entirely early eighteenth-century poetry. Many contemporary satirical pieces, and items from Mist's Weekly Journal.

A.T.W, 1793–ca. 1800.

A lot of retrospective editing including comments and cross-outs. 

153 poems.

Many poems by or about important figures of literature and the stage; also epitaphs, inscriptions and letters; many poems by women.

Anonymous (probably from Scotland), 1737–ca. 1740.

415 poems

Many religious/devotional poems.

John Dixon, ca. 1780–1817.

Six volumes.

Popular eighteenth-century poetry.

Anonymous, ca. 1773-1806.

Crowded, no margins, looks more like a commonplace book than a usual poetry miscellany.

361 poems.

Enormous amount of material compiled over many years roughly chronologically.

Mary Gay, 1801–1809.

324 items.

Preference for humorous pieces; some riddles. 

Anonymous, ca. 1805–1817.

340 poems.

Themes of love, support for the oppressed (slaves, Irish peasants, workhorses, foundlings, animals in general, etc.), consumption.

Maybe part of local network as some pieces attributed to single initials. 

Anne Finch, Countess of Winchilsea, ca. 1685–1701 or 1702.

109 poems.

Poems and plays.

Hester Lynch Thrale Piozzi, 1810–1814.

Five volumes for her adopted nephew, but only the first three are primarily poetry, and therefore considered manuscript verse miscellanies. 

Largely original occasional poems accompanied by prose biographical material and information about the circumstances of each item's composition. 

Melesinda Munbee (seemingly transcribed by Elizabeth Munbee), 1749–1750.

A manuscript verse miscellany assembled in childhood, based on a father's library. 

Two volumes, 44 poems.

Many items by Swift; other bawdy contents.

Hester Thrale Piozzi, ca. 1810.

50 poems.

Entirely or almost entirely original poetry, many occasional. 

Anonymous compilation of poems by Peter Pinnell, ca. 1749–1790.

59 items.

Example of a one-author collection followed by a short section of poems by different authors.

Smyth family of Heath, ca. 1710–1806.

This entry concerns only pp. 1-239 which consists of two hands, the second replacing the first but adopting the first hand's format. The second hand is also responsible for the index. All in all, however, the book is a sequence of at least six single-hand compilations.

173 items.

Political satire (Tory perspective), Oxford affairs, Wakefield-area affairs.

Anonymous, ca. 1740s.

73 poems.

Seemingly a woman’s book with themes of nature, courtship, public affairs.

E. Beardwell, 1724.

31 poems.

Pastorals, georgics. 

Joshua Peart, 1726.

256 poems.

A large eclectic book with a special concentration of pastoral poems and songs, political satire and other poems about politicians, and humorous poems; also contains multiple poems about alcohol and tobacco.

Revd. William Heath Marsh, ca. 1810.

~100 + ~85 = ~185 poems.

Volume 1 consists primarily of copied poetry, especially pastoral and morality poems or poems with classical themes; volume 2 contains much more original poetry, poems related to public affairs, and references to a Norfolk social network centred around Marsh and Thomas and Mary Blofeld.

Anonymous, 1715–1717.

318 poems.

Diverse collection of poems, with a significant number of poems satirising women and marriage; also interested in the classics, public affairs, literature, Oxford, theatre, and religious satire.

Anonymous, ca. 1769–1790.

152 poems.

Bound-with The New Bath Guide (1766).

Celebrity-centred manuscript verse miscellany, with a particular focus on Samuel Johnson, Hester Thrale Piozzi, David Garrick, Peter Pindar, and Horace Walpole.